April 18, 2017
What America Can Learn from China’s People’s Liberation Army
President Trump recently called for a $54 billion increase in military spending to “send a message to the world… of American strength, security, and resolve.” The U.S. defense establishment is currently grappling with how these additional funds should be spent to achieve the stated objective. Merely investing in increasing the size of our forces is ineffective. Instead, the United States must prioritize modernizing its capabilities to meet new types of threats. As the United States advances down this path, it could look towards an unlikely source for inspiration: the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). China watchers around the world continue to characterize the PLA as a “paper tiger”, but the United States could stand to learn a thing or two about force modernization from its Asian counterpart.
China’s last major conflict with a foreign adversary, its failed offensive in the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese war, led foreign commentators and military experts to deem the PLA a “ragtag” military that was disorganized and underfunded. Generally, the PLA lacked the technology and organizational wherewithal needed to fight even the smallest of adversaries. Today, the PLA has undergone massive military modernization efforts. They still note that the PLA is “not ready” to fight in a modern war due to technological gaps in China’s air defense, the nature of the bureaucratic and corrupt Chinese state, and its lack of combat experience.
Read the full article at The National Interest.
More from CNAS
-
When the Chips Are Down
Reports
Introduction The United States is in a strategic competition with a well-resourced and capable opponent. China seeks a global role that is broadly at odds with the strategic i...
By Becca Wasser, Martijn Rasser & Hannah Kelley
-
Richard Fontaine on Biden's China Policy
Video
Center for a New American Security CEO Richard Fontaine joins Italian news channel Tg2 to discuss President Biden's China policy....
By Richard Fontaine
-
Mentorship and the Indo-Pacific with Mira Rapp-Hooper and Richard Fontaine
Podcast
In this episode of Next in Foreign Policy, Mira Rapp-Hooper and Richard Fontaine talk about mentorship and how it shapes both personal and professional lives. They also talk a...
By Richard Fontaine
-
The Potential of RPA in Government; Future of FITARA; U.S. Military Posture in the Indo-Pacific
Podcast
Stacie Pettyjohn, senior fellow and director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security, explains what the U.S. military can do to build a resilient post...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
